To Work or Not?

I can't believe this article even ask the question. If wasn't for the attacks against Sarah Palin no reporter would be asking it. For the last thirty plus years thats been the medias stand. A mother can work as well as have a family. What the hell has changed? The media now questions it because a mom is running for VP. Didn't question weither a man can be a father and have a job. Never have heard the question raised weither a father could be president or even vice president. What a bunch of hypocrites

Let's forget about the working mom/not working mom crap. McCain had my support when he ran against Bush and I still viewed him as my possible choice this year---until he chose Palin as his VP pick. Sorry, but this female former Republican (now Independent) is NOT comfortable with someone as FAR RIGHT as Palin being a heartbeat away from the presidency. IMHO McCain lost his "maverick" status the minute he kissed up to people like Falwell and chose someone like Palin to be his VP. Change? What a joke.

Murphy 63 is spot on. It's not about dollars. The women of our country need the opportunity and are as entitled to be as fulfilled as the men. If men can work and still be strong fathers, there's no reason to believe or promote the belief that mothers can't.

Who cares ?
Palin is a Republican joke on the American public.
We want Jerry Springer style culture, so the Republicans gave us exactly want we want,
and with a little help from the established news media we get it served up like candy !!

Let us be honest her, the majority of Americans are just PLAIN STUPID, plain and simple.
We, as a society, are easily distracted, entertained and lead.

WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT THE FUTURE ?
I do CARE ONE BIT about the future.
My kids are just fine, I can easily afford higher education, health care and even extras for my children.

So instead about voting for WHO IS going to a better job, vote for who can entertain the IGNORANT MASSES !!!

Hey the bright side, when the GOP rig the election, your children will have great jobs in landscaping and waitering. Thats okay, we need a cheaper American work force, there are other countries that can provide highly skilled works.

GO McCAIN + PALIN !!! Ruin this country more, so I can profit !!!

KIds need parents!!! What is so hard to understand about that??!?? When both parents CHOOSE to work to have a upscale lifestyle, certainly children suffer> Why do people have children if they do not want to RAISE them. Both Palin and her husband have had careers. I am not sure why they CHOSE to have five children if they did not want to see them grow up!!! And as a mother of a special needs child, I KNOW it takes more of an adults time to properly care for them and just to be there for them. Good Grief, people WAKE UP

I could not disagree more - I do not care what a study sugests. AND THIS SOMEHOW ONLY SUGGESTS THAT IT IS MOM'S WHO ARE ACTIVE AND/OR REPONSIBLE FOR DISCLIPINING THEIR KIDS - not ever the da. Not always the dad. Come on. If you are involved in your kids lives when you are with them - fully engaged with them - - your time with them is dedicated to them knowing how much they mean to you - and your schedule includes plenty of quality off time - ie weekends dedicated to family, vacations centered around only family, etc. atending their events and activities in prioritized a fashion, you are probably as in touch and/or more than the harried stay at home mother who resents being there - which i have experienced - plenty of stay at home mothers who resent staying at home and take that fact out on their kids. . Eating out is not a fatty proposition - come on. Life is about choices and conscientious parents can figure out quite well how to put together a healthy meal for their kids from a restaurant menu as easily as they can when making dinner at home. Gee whiz. This study has too many generalizations and fuzzy areas - and I wonder if it would be credited at all if not for Sarah Palin being the serious candidate for vice president that she is.

Wouldn't it be nice if we just stopped judging women's right to work, have children. We should be way past this and for the most part probably were until Sarah came along and scared the hell out of the left. These subtle attempts to create a dialogue disparaging women;s choices will not work and will cost you in the end.

What if the title of the article was: "Should affluent dad work?". Society would be outraged. This discussion should be up to each individual and their family situation. Articles like this are perpetuating the Feminine Mystique and are not worthy of precious media space.

I am struggling with the title "Should affluent mom's work"? What outcries would be received if the title read "Should affluent dad's work"?? The discussion is moot for all except for each individual and what they deem appropriate for their siutation. Society has no say. This article is a waste of precious media space.

article is a waste of media space.

Does anyone think about the fact that the type of personality of a mother who decides to stay at work is probably different than the type of personality of a mother who decides to stay home? Maybe the personality of the stay-at-home mom is more conducive to teaching and nurturing. This study proves a correlation, not an explanation.

This was a meaningless article. If the study is flawed, why are you even commenting on it and giving it press?

I'd rather see the mom working than a mom not working because she thinks she's entitled to it.

TomPe: It is lovely that your wife was able to choose her children over her career. However, in many, if not most, instances working is more about making ends meet than about choosing to raise children over advancing a career. I don't think that stay at home parents are unproductive members of our society but (and I am not saying you said this) it is unfair of those that have the priviledge of being able to stay at home to shake their rightous fingers at those of us that have no choice but to work. Why is this a matter of debate anyway? Why are we not working together as a nation, no matter what our personal economic status, to make it a better place as a whole (education, healthcare, etc.) instead of pitting against one another?

My wife never thought twice about putting her career as an attorney on hold to raise our small children. We were not required to have children. Once we decided to have a family, she believed it would have been selfish to have others raise our children so she could pursue her career. She has an extreme sense of pride in what she does each day and our children are better for it. For some posters to write that stay at home parents are not productive and active members of society is true ignorance.

Should affluent moms work? Moms wouldn't be affluent in the first place if they didn't work!!!!!!

Should affluent moms work? If she didn't work, she wouldn't be affluent in the first place.

Why can't the father stay home? Why the mothers? This article is an embarrassment. How ignorant can you get?

I would like to see if this study would garner the same results if the children of affluent dads who worked were compared to the children of low-income dads who worked were compared to affluent dads who left the workforce.

Why was this focused only on working vs. non-working mothers? Not enough affluent working/non-working dads to participate in the study? BOSH.

How about saying to affluent men: "If you want your child to succeed, don't work." Why not? Because stay-at-home dads wouldn't pay enough quality attention to their children in order to make up that difference? Because it would be horrifying/unfair/hopeless for affluent men to even consider such an idea? That seems rather insulting to both mothers and fathers.

Seems like the hypothesis was a little skewed and biased to begin with...very interested to hear the justification for it.

I certainly can understand your thought process on 'ditching' the second income when all if not most goes to 'daycare" but that isn't the point. The point is women need to feel productive and active in society. If it weren't for women feeling a sense of pride in what they do, they would not be of any benefit to their chidlren at all. It is important women/mothers have high self esteem and grow as humans in the 'outside world' so they can bring more to the 'inside world'

I would be interested to know how the women and their marriages fare long term. From what I can see, there's a real imbalance of power in the relationship. I don't think I could be happy feeling like I "owed" my husband something for letting me "not work". Even though it's a great deal of work being a mother and homemaker, most of the stay at home moms I know don't really give even themselves equal shrift with their husbands. Totally not worth it from where I sit, and I've been happily married for 23 years now..